Trump replaces conservative FCC member with one who is against the First Amendment

Republican FCC hack Mike O'Reilly didn't have much in the way of integrity, but what little he did have got him fired. Senior adviser at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Nathan Simington was announced as his replacement by the Trump administration in the middle of September.

Why was O’Reilly out? Well, to understand all of that we need to go back a couple of months to May. The United States had not yet reached 100,000 deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic back then. Trump was already attacking voting by mail and Twitter had the impolite impulse to fact-check two of the Donald’s tweets. The fact that after 52,000 lies, Trump was finally fact-checked by the social media company led to the white supremacist in chief threatening to shut down Twitter. You know, basic attacks on freedom of speech and all that. Trump called for a review of a provision in the Section 230 law that protects social media companies from liability created by their users.

Nervous about phone-banking? Calling voters in swing states to elect Joe Biden and the Democratic ticket is the most crucial thing you can do, but it can feel intimidating. That's why 2020 Victory is holding a Call Crew Training to help you get started and get you on your feet comfortable to make a difference. Sign up for a Call Crew Training today.

O’Reilly, who had been renominated for his position on the FCC, didn’t explicitly reference Donald Trump’s attacks on free speech and the First Amendment, but made a speech at the end of July where he said that:

The First Amendment protects us from limits on speech imposed by the government—not private actors—and we should all reject demands, in the name of the First Amendment, for private actors to curate or publish speech in a certain way. Like it or not, the First Amendment’s protections apply to corporate entities, especially when they engage in editorial decision making. I shudder to think of a day in which the Fairness Doctrine could be reincarnated for the Internet, especially at the ironic behest of so-called free speech “defenders.” It is time to stop allowing purveyors of First Amendment gibberish to claim they support more speech, when their actions make clear that they would actually curtail it through government action. These individuals demean and denigrate the values of our Constitution and must be held accountable for their doublespeak and dishonesty. This institution and its members have long been unwavering in defending the First Amendment, and it is the duty of each of us to continue to uphold this precious protection.

Ruh-roh. It didn’t matter to Trump that Mike O’Reilly went along with Ajit Pai and the Republican plan to end Net Neutrality consumer protections. It didn’t matter that he joined in the $2 billion theft from local governments by the cable broadband industry. Even promoting the old, ineffective plan to provide broadband to rural areas didn’t save Mike O’Reilly from Trump’s dictatorship.

So who is this guy Simington that Trump decided to replace O’Reilly with? According to Tech Dirt he’s the guy that wrote Trump’s “blatantly unconstitutional Executive Order that President Trump signed after he got mad that Twitter placed two fact-checking notices on his dangerous and misleading tweets.” So much for the “light-touch regulation” Ajit Pai touted when he rid consumers of their net neutrality protections.

Whether or not Simington will replace O’Reilly before his term is complete remains to be seen. Elections matter.

from Daily Kos https://ift.tt/3jaBwBz